1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle seat that has a seat cushion, the length dimension of which can be changed, and an ottoman (a mechanism that is able to support the calves of an occupant).
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent No. 4324444 describes one such vehicle seat according to related art. With this vehicle seat, a seat cushion has a sitting portion on which an occupant can sit, and an ottoman portion that is connected to a front end of the sitting portion. The ottoman portion can be displaced between a first position and a second position. In the first position, the ottoman portion points downward with respect to the seat and is compactly arranged in a lower portion of the seat so as not to get in the way of the occupant (i.e., the bent legs of the occupant). Also, in the second position, the ottoman portion is extended out in front of the seat from the sitting portion and supports the calves of the occupant.
Here, the related seat cushion has a cushion that forms the contour of the seat, and a plurality of mechanisms (i.e., a link mechanism and a pivoting mechanism) below the cushion. The cushion is a member that can elastically expand and contract, and the ottoman portion and the sitting portion are formed so as to be continuous. The ottoman portion swings (i.e., slides) in the longitudinal direction of the seat with respect to the sitting portion. Also, the pivoting mechanism enables the ottoman portion to rotate about a front end of the sitting portion. With this related art, the ottoman portion in the first position is slid by the link mechanism until it contacts the calves of the occupant. Sliding the ottoman portion (i.e., performing a seat length changing operation) in this way enables the length dimension of the seat cushion to be extended. Then, the ottoman can be extended in front of the seat (i.e., displaced to the second position) by rotating ottoman portion about the front end of the sitting portion by the pivoting mechanism.